More than a decade after Juan Gonzalez was gunned down on Chandler Street, family still seeks answers

Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Monday June 18, 2012 at 6:00 am

Updated Thursday August 9, 2012 at 3:26 pm

Mr. Gonzalez

Linda Gonzalez has never given up hope that her brother's killer will be caught. The conviction is in her eyes, the compassion is in her tears, and the strength is in her voice.

Even though more than a decade has passed since Juan C. Gonzalez was gunned down in an after-hours place on Chandler Street, Ms. Gonzalez believes someone has information that can lead investigators to his killer.

“My hope is still up. I'm not going to give up,” Ms. Gonzalez, 31, said during an interview at her Tacoma Street home.

“It doesn't matter how long it's been. I think it is just the right thing to do,” she said. “I just wish someone would say something and make this a little less painful.”

Police said 40 to 50 people were at the site of the 2001 shooting. Police used fingerprints to track down some witnesses. But it is likely that there are other people who have information that might help close the case.

As Ms. Gonzalez passionately pleads for people to come forward with information, the pain of her family's loss moves to the forefront. Tears take over. She reaches for her shoulder, recalling her brother's embrace.

“He would always stand next to me, throw his arms around me, kiss me on the cheek and tell me he loved me,” she said. “It is not there anymore. I miss that.”

Mr. Gonzalez, 22, had been at a bar in the city sometime during the night and early morning of Feb. 10, 2001. There apparently was a fight between two groups of people, but it is unclear if Mr. Gonzalez was involved.

The young man headed to 141 Chandler St., known in Spanish as “The Dust Bowl.” People knew it was an after-hours location, where people went after a night out at the bars.

Mr. Gonzalez seems to have settled down and played a game of dominoes. .

But police were called to the Chandler Street apartment around 2:30 a.m. Mr. Gonzalez was found in a first-floor room of the two-story house.

“A couple of people came into the party; a couple of shots were fired,” said Detective William T. Donovan, of the Worcester Police Department's Unresolved Homicide Unit. “He had two gunshot wounds to his left hip. He ended up dying as a result of those shots.”

Mr. Gonzalez was rushed to St. Vincent Hospital where he later died. Authorities said both his femoral arteries had been severed, and that Mr. Gonzalez bled to death. It is unclear if Mr. Gonzalez was targeted by the shooter or if he was an innocent bystander.

Mr. Gonzalez didn't have any enemies, according to his family. He was a good man; a loving brother for his three sisters, who worked at Fiber Optic Network Solutions in Northboro. All his sisters — Linda, Cynthia and Maribel Gonzalez — have struggled with the loss of their brother.

Detective Donovan, one of the original investigators, said five or six witnesses were interviewed after the shooting.

“We were able to develop a few other names by having our CSU unit take fingerprints off some of the beer cans and whatnot that were left,” the detective said.

Detectives have not spoken to everyone there that morning. There are people with more information, investigators believe.

“There are people out there that know what happened that night,” Detective Donovan said. “We're looking for them to come forward.”

Ms. Gonzalez was living in Puerto Rico with her husband, Cesareo Cortes, when her brother was slain. She moved back to Worcester to be closer to her family and the case. She wanted her brother to see her daughter born, but he never did.

In 2006, the family put together $10,000 in reward money for information. That money, put up by Mr. Gonzalez's father, Teofilo Gonzalez, is now gone.

With so many people at the party, Ms. Gonzalez can't believe no one has come forward with information that will lead to her brother's killer.

“It's frustrating. It is sad that there were so many people and nobody is willing to step up and say anything about it,” she said. “They just left him there.”

A good-looking man, Mr. Gonzalez had a smile from ear-to-ear. Ms. Gonzalez visits her brother's grave regularly at Hope Cemetery.

Detectives have some persons of interest in the case. They are not in the area anymore it appears, but police keep track of them.

She calls detectives regularly. She asks about progress, questions if something was missed. She knows the investigators want what she wants.

“Our endgame is putting someone in jail for this,” Detective Donovan said. “That's what we want to do.”

Anyone with information on these cases may send an anonymous text to 274637 beginning with TIPWPD, or submit an anonymous message online via www.worcesterma.gov/police, or call the Worcester Police Department Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.

Missing person and unresolved homicide cases in Worcester can be viewed at: www.worcesterma.gov/police/investigative/unresolved-incidents